Dustin Volz
@dustinvolz.bsky.social
Washington correspondent for The New York Times focused on cyber conflict, digital espionage and intelligence. Prior stops at WSJ, Reuters, National Journal. https://www.nytimes.com/by/dustin-volz
"The attack has little precedent, experts said, but has long been the stuff of nightmares and sensationalized Hollywood thrillers: an apparent cyberattack by a foreign power during a time of war that could, at least in theory, jeopardize the health and safety of Americans."
Scope of Hacks on U.S. Water Supply Widens as Evidence Points to Iran
Michigan and Minnesota are among at least seven states coping with cyberattacks aimed at disrupting water systems nationwide.
nytimes.com
NEW: The known reach of cyberattacks on water systems continues to expand to include Michigan + other states and could be far wider. Officials say Iran remains top suspect despite Trump's rejection of the notion. Water remains safe, but experts are spooked www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/u...
Scope of Hacks on U.S. Water Supply Widens as Evidence Points to Iran (Gift Article)
Michigan and Minnesota are among at least seven states coping with cyberattacks aimed at disrupting water systems nationwide.
nytimes.com
It's important to note the FBI's own public service announcement, published late Thursday evening, prominently notes "at least seven states" have reported since last weekend attempts to compromise water systems (Rockwell PLCs) "and some of that activity degraded water operations"
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 5d agoTrump: "We heard in Minnesota there was a cyberattack and they blame it on Iran. I don't think so. I blame it on Minnesota because they're grossly incompetent. Iran's got bigger problems than worrying about Minnesota."
A preliminary investigation found that a cyberattack this week on dozens of municipal water systems in Minnesota was probably the work of Iranian hackers. There were no indications that any water supply had been rendered unsafe to drink.
U.S. Sees Iran as Likely Behind Cyberattack on Minnesota Water Systems
Investigators cautioned that the assessment was preliminary. There were no indications that any water supply had been rendered unsafe to drink.
nyti.ms
New: Investigators believe a cyberattack this week on dozens of municipal water systems in Minnesota was probably the work of Iranian hackers, a potential act of aggression that comes at a precarious moment in the U.S. war against Iran. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/u...
U.S. Sees Iran as Likely Behind Cyberattack on Minnesota Water Systems (Gift Article)
Investigators cautioned that the assessment was preliminary. There were no indications that any water supply had been rendered unsafe to drink.
nytimes.com
Asked recently how much deference the White House should expect for the remainder of his time in Congress, Cornyn replied with a wry grin: “Loyalty is a two-way street.” www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
‘YOLO’ Republican Senator Plays Hardball With Trump
Less than three months ago, John Cornyn was championing a bill to rename a highway after President Trump. Now, the senior senator from Texas is threatening to block Trump’s nominees.
wsj.com
The rogue agent that escaped from OpenAI and went on a days-long hacking spree at the AI firm Hugging Face also compromised a customer at a second tech company: New York-based Modal Labs. www.reuters.com/business/ope...
EXCLUSIVE: OpenAI's rogue agent compromised a customer at a second tech firm, executive says
The rogue agent that escaped from OpenAI and went on a days-long hacking spree at the AI firm Hugging Face also compromised a customer at a second tech company — New York-based Modal Labs — according ...
reuters.com
New: Anthropic A.I. Model Finds Flaws in Tough-to-Crack Encryption Algorithms www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/u...
An Anthropic Claude AI Model Finds Flaws in Tough-to-Crack Encryption Algorithms (Gift Article)
Claude Mythos Preview discovered new attacks in testing against weakened cryptographic algorithms, which protect online financial transactions, private communications and more.
nytimes.com
Iran’s New Leader Is More Open to Pursuing a Nuclear Weapon, U.S. Intelligence Says www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/u...
Iran’s New Leader Is More Open to Pursuing a Nuclear Weapon, U.S. Intelligence Says
The previous supreme leader, who was killed early in the war, had renounced nuclear weapons. U.S. spy agencies believe his son is more interested in building a bomb.
nytimes.com
"Three military officials said that one reason behind the change was that the Trump administration decided to remove four service members killed this past weekend from the list...because their deaths occurred after President Trump declared a cease-fire." www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/u...
Number of U.S. Troop Deaths in Iran War Appears Lower on Pentagon Website
Three military officials and a Pentagon spokesman gave conflicting explanations for why the number of Americans killed in the Iran war had changed.
nytimes.com
The Justice Dept. said on Thursday that it would withdraw the subpoenas that sought phone records and grand jury testimony from New York Times journalists who had reported on the security capabilities of President Trump’s new Qatari-built Air Force One jet www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/b...
U.S. to Withdraw Subpoenas Issued to New York Times Journalists (Gift Article)
A federal judge raised questions about the government’s handling of the subpoenas, which The Times said were an attempt to intimidate the free press.
nytimes.com
Wyden cites subpoenas against NYT reporters as a reason for his vote against Jay Clayton to oversee U.S. intelligence agencies, saying there are “credible allegations that he provided false testimony … about intimidation subpoenas sent about New York Times reporting.”
Trump Pushes Chinese Election Threat, but Files Show Russia’s Heavy Hand www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/u...
Trump Pushes Chinese Election Threat, but Files Show Russia’s Heavy Hand
nytimes.com
U.S. Sought Phone Records of Times Journalists and Their Relatives www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/b...
Trump Administration Sought Phone Records of Times Journalists and Their Relatives
The government is aggressively seeking the confidential sources of Times reporters who wrote about the president’s new Air Force One. The Times has asked a judge to quash the subpoenas.
nytimes.com
On today’s front page of The New York Times: Trump Enlists Spy Agencies In ‘20 Grudge Federal Push to Revive Voting-Fraud Claims www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/u...
Mullin just parroted an Iranian disinformation operation from 2020.
Former officials have noted the irony in Trump’s dismantling election security efforts that had been either created or strengthened during his first term. Most crucially, he has purged his admin of people who will push back on bogus claims. We are in a different place than we were in 2020.
Untangling what Trump said about China, which does not match what the newly declassified documents say about China. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/u...
Trump Released Documents on China and the 2020 Election. Here’s What We Know.
President Trump claimed that China had tried to acquire American voter data. Possessing such information would not allow votes to be manipulated.
nytimes.com
A reminder that bears repeating: Trump has systematically dismantled election security efforts within the federal government during his second term.
"election infrastructure cybersecurity has improved significantly, in part thanks to hundreds of millions of dollars... appropriated by Congress. Nearly all votes cast in the United States now have verifiable paper backup, for instance, & vote machines are virtually never connected to the internet."
Dustin Volz@dustinvolz.bsky.social · 3w agoPresident Trump has sowed doubts about the integrity of U.S. elections for over a decade. What he has not done is furnish proof to support his claims. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/u...
President Trump has sowed doubts about the integrity of U.S. elections for over a decade. What he has not done is furnish proof to support his claims. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/u...
Trump Is Expected to Revisit Election Security. Here’s What to Know.
Repeated investigations and audits have debunked claims by the president and his allies of widespread fraud or manipulation in 2020 or other elections.
nytimes.com
“.. The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” said David McCraw, The Times’s top newsroom lawyer .. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/b...
The Trump administration issued subpoenas on Friday to several journalists for The New York Times, after the news outlet reported this week on security concerns involving President Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/b...
Times Journalists Subpoenaed as Trump Escalates Pressure on Media
The Justice Department is seeking to compel testimony from reporters who wrote about the new Air Force One. The Times called the move a “brazen act.”
nytimes.com
"People close to him say they don’t expect him to retire this summer or fall. And in a strong indication that he intends to stay through at least June 2027, he has hired a full roster of four law clerks for next term, according to a person close to Alito." www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...
Samuel Alito, a MAGA-Friendly Justice With a New Conservative Legal Vision
Samuel Alito is fusing establishment conservatism and the Trump movement into a new legal doctrine. His approach to the law may outlast them both.
wsj.com
New: When a gang of motorcycle-riding members of Boko Haram attacked a military base in eastern Nigeria, they were stymied by a defensive trench surrounding the complex. The extremists regrouped. Before launching another assault, they asked A.I. for help. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/u...
How Terrorist Groups Are Using A.I. to Gain an Edge in Battle (Gift Article)
A.I. chatbots are not just a propaganda tool for violent extremists but are aiding in bomb construction and attack planning, new research finds.
nytimes.com
State actors in China, Russia and Iran have sought to exploit the U.S. public debate over data centers, hoping to deepen a genuine “domestic fracture point" that is quickly becoming a top issue in this year's midterm elections. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/b...
China, Russia and Others Seek to Inflame Debate Over A.I. Data Centers
nytimes.com
"It may seem self-serving for a writer at a 169-year-old magazine to carry a torch for reading. But the people who make a living from words are not the only ones who lose out in a postliterate age." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
The End of Reading Is Here
Optimists once believed that universal literacy was inevitable. Now it seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history.
theatlantic.com
"Fearful that an Israeli assassination effort would doom the negotiations, the United States, according to some of the officials, went so far as to ask other countries in the region to warn Iran about the possibility Israel could target the two officials." www.nytimes.com/2026/07/02/u...
U.S. Officials Believed Israel Was Plotting to Kill Iranian Negotiators
nytimes.com
"Three and a half years after the launch of ChatGPT, the initial wonder that the world first felt about all-knowing answer boxes has increasingly curdled into anger, anxiety, and organized opposition." via @caseynewton.bsky.social www.platformer.news/ai-backlash-...
Why the tech industry can't keep up with the AI backlash
AI's externalities are growing faster than the industry can address them
platformer.news
"Emails obtained by 404 Media even show some companies cutting off access to some AI models altogether in an attempt to stop burning through their AI tokens, and big tech companies like Adobe are ending unlimited access to Claude." www.404media.co/companies-ar...
Companies Are Throttling Employees’ AI Use Because It’s Too Expensive
Sources and leaks from Amazon, Adobe, Atlassian, Citi, and more show what is really happening with AI right now: companies are trying to rein in AI use as costs spiral out of control.
404media.co